We all know about the history of boys slaying dragons, rescuing villages (and damsels), and totally hogging all of the glory and accolades – well move over fellas, here comes Ava the Monster Slayer on a quest to save her beloved plush piggy from the monster in the dryer in the basement.
When we do story time, I do as many voices as I can think of to bring each character to life for our daughters. We read this one as a bedtime story 2 nights ago and the story was so much fun that she was rolling around on the bed in laughter. With each new roar, or exclamation from the book, the laughter refreshed itself and by the end of the read we were all full of giggle and cheering on Ava as she fought her way to the basement to rescue PIGGY!
Spoiler alert – There aren’t any terrifying things along the way and this is all about that powerful voice inside that pushes us to face our fears whether they are real or perceived in order to find our love – or our piggy. Ava is brave, sincere, and imaginative. She is a strong character that kids can really connect to during the story and cheer for as she closes in on her goal.
Written by Lisa Maggiore and illustrated by Ross Felten, there is a real kid quality to the character of Ava and no wonder since Lisa based Ava off of her own daughter. I think our kids pick up on that level of authenticity and they know what Ava means when she talks about rescuing Piggy. I loved the outfit Ava selected to go in search of Piggy – superhero cape and sword, pink rainboots, and a sparkly princess crown. This is one of those moments when you look at your own child and remember her tendency to sparkle up with a crown when doing important work!
The book is recommended for ages 3-6, but you can easily stretch the upper end of the ages during this season of monsters. Ava the Monster Slayer is available as a hardcover from Sky Pony Press, and as an ebook. It’s on sale now and if you don’t have it on your October read-together list, hurry up! Ava and Piggy are waiting!
My son loves Halloween books. This would be great for our bookshelf, will have to see if we can add it to the ipad.
This looks like a very fun read! I think my daughter would still love it even though Halloween is technically over – she’s still celebrating like it’s not!
I think this book would be great for story time with kids indeed! I personally used to hate it when my father did different voices for each character in the books he read to my sister and me, but my sister loved it.
This sounds like a great book. I wish my girls could read more than they can now so they could read this one. They love books like these that are Halloween related.
This looks like such a great children’s book. My daughter loved reading books like this one when she was little.
This looks like a great book for kids. My kids have loved reading since they were little. We love to go to the library to pick out a new book to read.
Looks like a good book for kids. My son is already a tween, but I’ll show this to him. We never know, he might be interested. :)
I actually never heard of this book before. However, I know that my children would love it!
Sounds like a fun book for the kiddos. Will have to get them this book for next Halloween.
What a fun book for Halloween! My son would want to read it year round!
This book looks absolutely adorable. The fact that it is a girl character and she is out to save a little piggy makes for a great story line. My kids love catchy books!
This sounds like a great read for little ones. I too used to change my voice when reading to my kids and feel it makes the books more interesting for the children. Ava The Monster Slayer sounds like a great gift idea for my niece’s kids and my sister.
This is adorable!! I have apiece who is obsessed with “monsters”, “dragons”, and “scary stuff” and I think she would love this!!
We didn’t read any Halloween themed books this year. First time in a long time. Boo (as in thumbs down, lol, not as in ghostly boo). ;)
This sounds like a great read and perfect gift idea for my nephew! I bet he would love this!
Aww this looks awesome!! I should try this for my nephew – he’s starting to love to read and hes only almost 3!
I think this book is a great resource for kids to expand their creativity and imagination. The storyline sounds interesting and the book is fun to read.
Sounds like a fun book ! I think my kids will love it. They are age 2-5 :) perfect!
What a fun read! I bet my son would absolutely love it!
I haven’t heard of this book until now but I bet my 6 year old would love it.
Story time is one of my favourite times of the day. Snuggling with the kids and sharing an adventure is always memorable. That book looks like one my kids would love!
What a sweet book! I really miss reading to my kids!
This sounds like a book my girls would love to read. This is such a cute looking book and it’s perfect with Halloween just having passed.
My kids would have love this during Halloween. Sounds like a great book for little ones.
This sounds like such an empowering story for the kids. I would love to read it as a bed time story.
This sounds like a wonderful book that my kiddos would love. I love that it’s not your typical boy fighting the monster or dragon, etc., but a girl! Woohoo!
What a cute book! I love the artwork, and I think it’s the perfect Halloween book for any kid.
I would love to read a book like this to my kiddo. It looks like it would be a fun book to read to him. I love fun stories that use all imagination!
This sounds like a great book. I will get this for the twins. They are all about superheroes, I’m sure they’ll love Ava.
That sounds like a great children’s book. I think my youngest would really enjoy reading this :)